Match Preview: Rochdale vs MK Dons

Scott Wiseman during the EFL Sky Bet League 1 match between Northampton Town and Rochdale at the Sixfields, Northampton, England on 3 February 2018. Photo by Daniel Youngs.

Rochdale are set to host MK Dons in a relegation six-pointer on the back of a dream FA Cup draw against Premiership giants Tottenham Hotspur.

Rochdale sit bottom of League One, 11 points from safety but have up to five games in hand on fellow relegation strugglers. Steven Davies scored a last minute equaliser on Sunday against Tottenham to earn Dale a trip to Wembley but their last League One game saw Dale fall to 3-2 defeat against Bristol Rovers. A spectacular 79th-minute goal from Chris Lines gave Bristol Rovers victory over Rochdale at the Memorial Stadium.

Dan Micciche’s MK Dons are 22nd in League One but are six points away from safety. The Dons head into the clash following a 2-1 defeat against Charlton Athletic, under Micciche’s five games as manager of MK Dons they have failed to pick up a single point.

“It’s unlikely that he’ll be involved – the injury is worse than we thought.”

“He’s played through pain, but the pain has become too much to bare. He’s on ice and rest, and we’re hoping he’ll be fit for the league campaign which is obviously very important to us.”

Dan Micciche insists MK Dons are ‘100% in’ on the fight for survival and knows that must remain the case if they are to pull themselves out of their current predicament.

“It’s frustrating,” Micciche said of the current situation in his post-match press conference. “I feel the supporters’ hurt. They’ve stuck with us and we have to take our medicine.”

“[The players] do believe we can stay up. If I get a glimpse of anything otherwise, they can’t be with us. They have to be 100 per cent with us or nothing. If you’re 99 per cent, it’s not enough. Everyone has to remain positive and stick together.

“We have to be open and honest, and ask ourselves what we can do to keep this Club in the division. If you’re a six out of 10, that’s not enough. We need nine out of 10s.”

“We have 14 cup finals coming up and the only way we are going to get out of this by putting points on the board. We have a plan in terms of blocking the games together and working out how many points we should be getting from each. We’ve got our own goals and we’re working as hard as we can to achieve them.”

On Wednesday’s trip to Rochdale…
“I think we all agree it’s a massive game and we’ll do our best to win it. It won’t be season defining but we need to get some momentum and confidence into the dressing room. We’re getting nothing at the moment and the clock is ticking.”